Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-08-20

~ ZS,% am bound to say
that when there
was sufficient light TO enable us to see each
others faces, !, for one, burst ont in aroar
Of laughter. Jobs fat and comfortable
countenance was swollen out to nearly
twice its natural size from mosquito bites,
and leo's condition was not much better.
Indeed, Of the three | had come off much
the best, probably owing To the toughness
Of my dark skin, and to the fact that's good
deal of il was covered by hair, for since we
started from England i had allowed my
naturally luXuriant beard TO grow at its
own sweet will. But the other two were,
comparatively speaking, clean shaved,
which Of course gave the enemy II larger
extent OF open country to opcr &c on,
though as for Mahomed, the mo .Juitoes,
recognizing the taste OF q true believer,
would not touch him at any price, How
often, / wonder, during the next week or
50 did we wish that we were Favored like
an Arab!
BY the time that we had done laughing
rs heartily rs our swollen lips would allow,
it was daylight, and the morning breeze
was coming up from the sea, cutting lanes
through the dense marsh mists, and here
AAAlA tlA lbAAilA@ NAtCAll DGlOlG ~ III EItlL
balls Of neccy yap0r. So we set our sail,
and having first taken Il look at the two
dead ions and the dead alligator, which
we were Of course unable 10 skin, being
destitute Of means Of curing the pelts, we
started, and sailing through the lagoon,
followed the course Of the river on the iur-
ther side. At midday, when the breeze
dropped, we were fortunate enough to find
a convenient piece OF dry land on which to
camp and light a fire, and here we cooked
some wild duck and some of the water
bucks teSh-nOt in a very appetizing way,
il is true, but still, sufficiently. The rest
of the bucks flesh we cut into strips and
hung in the sun, to dry into '%biltong," as
/ believe the South African Dutch call
flesh thus prepared. On this welcome
patch Of dry land we stopped till the fol-
lowing dawn, and, as before, spent the
night in warfare with the mosquitoes, but
without other troubles.
1t was on the fourth day of u journey,
when we had Travelled, so far rs we could
reckon, about one hundred and thirty-hve
to a hundred and forty miles westward
from the coast, that the first event of any
real importance occurred. On that morn
ing the usual wind failed Us about eleven
O'Clock, and after pulling q Little way we
were forced to halt, more or less exhausted,
at what appeared TO be the junction Of our
stream with another Of an uniform width
OF about fifty feet. Some trees grew near
at hand-the only trees in all this country
were along the banks Of the river-and In
der these we rested, and then, the land be-
ing fairly dry just here, walked n little
way along The edge of the river to pros
pect, and shoot q few waterfowl for food.
Before we he'd gone fifty yards we per-
ceivea that all hopes of getting further
up the stream in The whale-boat were ut
an end. for not two hundred yards above
where we had stopped was a succession OF
shadows and mud-bank,, with not six
inches OF water over them. ii was u watery
cul-dc-SGc.
Turning back, we walked some way along
the banks Of the other river, and soon came
to the conclusion, from various indications,
that it was not n river at all. but an ancient
canal, such as is to be seen above Mombasa,
on the Zanzibar coast, connecting the Tana
river with the Ozy, in such a way as to en-
able the shipping coming down the Tana
to cross to the other river, and reach the
sea by it, and thus avoid the very danger
ous bar that blocks tho mouth of the Tana.
The canal before us had evidently been
dug out by man at some remote period OF
the worlds history, and the results of his
digging still remained ia the shape OF the
raised banks, that had no doubt once
formed towing-paths. Except here and
there, where they had been followed oUt
or had fallen in, the banks of stiff. binding
clay were at a uniform distance from each
other, and the depth also appeared 10 be
uniform. Current, there was little or
none, and, as a consequence, the surface Of
the water was choked with vegetable
growth, intersccted by little paths of clear
water, made, | suppose, by the constant
passage OF waterfowl, iguanas, and other
vermin. Now, as it was evident that we
could not proceed up the river, il became
equally evident that we must either Try the
canal, or else return to the sea. We could
not stop where we were, to be baked by
the sun and eaten up by the mosquitoes,
till we died Of fever in that dreary marsh.
"Well, | suppose that we must try it," |
said; and the others assented in their yari-
IL ways-Leo, rs though it were the best
joke in the world; job, in respectful dis
gust; and Mahomed, with an invocation to
the Prophet, and a comprehensive curse
upon all unbelicvers and their ways of
thought and travel.
Accordingly, as soon a. the sun got low,
having little or nothing more to hope for